The best of the under-the-radar stars in each league

Reggie Willits has been the Angels' scrappy successor to David Eckstein. Dave Sandford/Getty Images

Also in this column:
• Brutal loss for Phillies
• Twins' offer to Hunter
• Is he a "True Yankee" yet?
• More news and notes

OK, enough about A-Rod already. For the next thousand words, anyway.

Today's the day to sing for the unsung, to herald the unheralded, to praise the overlooked. And there are more than a few of those guys in this most exciting season of pennant races.

Not every hero makes $25 million, the All-Star team and the front page of the newspaper. Not everyone can go from an MRI to a two home-run inning (oops, sorry -- more on that guy later).

There are still guys like these ...

There's Reggie Willits, who's 5-foot-nothing, or so it seems. He makes David Eckstein, the model for all undersized Angels heroes, look big. Yet, Willits, with a .292 batting average and 25 stolen bases, is playing a huge role for the Angels.

There's Angels left-hander Joe Saunders, the Virginia Tech product who won't be forgotten for paying tribute to the fallen at his old school. Saunders was discussed in trade talks for Mark Teixeira. The Angels may be glad Texas dealt with Atlanta instead, because Saunders is 7-3 with a 3.78 ERA.

There are the two Rafaels in the Indians bullpen. Perez and Betancourt. Both have ERAs below 2.00 (Perez is 1.56, Betancourt 1.48). The Indians' bullpen was supposed to be their fatal flaw. Thanks to the two Rafaels, it isn't.

There's George Sherrill in Seattle's 'pen. Win a prize if you can name the whole Mariners bullpen, or even half of it (there are 10 in all, with the callups). J.J. Putz is the star, but there are a few more good arms in there. Sherrill is 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA.

There's also Jose Vidro in Seattle. It's hard to be unsung when you're so highly paid ($7 million). But Vidro, who once combined with Vlad Guerrero to make Montreal a threat, has been forgotten. He shouldn't be, not with his .306 average.

There's Shelley Duncan with the Yankees. He was celebrated in his first week in the bigs after waiting so long -- too long -- to get there. He sparked New York with six quick dingers. Now he is overlooked again, this time by manager Joe Torre, who doesn't use him much. The signing of Roger Clemens for $28 million prorated gave the Yankees a lift. The callup of Duncan for nuthin' gave them a bigger one.

There's Coco Crisp of Boston, who catches everything in every nook and cranny of center field in Fenway Park. Never mind that he's hitting only .266. His manager, Terry Francona, says that Crisp is the best center fielder he's ever seen. I don't know about that. But he's darned good.

There's Placido Polanco, who hits and fields for the Tigers. The guy has made a career out of being unsung (.305 lifetime batting average). This year he has been practically flawless in the field and as close as almost anyone to flawless at bat (.339 batting average).

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